May 27, 2022, by aczjb1

HGI presents: Ingenuity Fund Fest!

In June, the Ingenuity Lab and Ingenuity Programme are teaming up to deliver Ingenuity Fund Fest, a month-long series of events designed to support exciting new ventures and provide next-stage funding to existing start-ups.

The programme of events is centred around the National Ingenuity Showcase at the university’s Power of Partnerships conference on the 17 June, which will celebrate the National Finalists from this year’s Ingenuity Programme and award almost £90,000 of funding to the most impactful business ideas, in partnership with the UK’s largest health charity, Nuffield Health.

The Ingenuity Programme, founded at the Haydn Green Institute in 2016, supports social change by providing seed grants and mentorship to innovators looking to start impactful new enterprises. The Showcase is an opportunity to meet this year’s Ingenuity Programme Regional and National Finalists and find out which teams have received funding to turn their ideas for change into impactful new ventures.

As well as showcasing their ideas at stalls throughout the day, Ingenuity participants will also be pitching their business ideas to conference delegates for the opportunity to secure more funding, support or access to client networks that can help build their businesses.

There will also be a separate invite-only event on the day for Ingenuity alumni from the 2021 Programme to pitch for next-stage funding.

Fund Fest kicks off on Tuesday 7 June, when the Witty Entrepreneurial Scholarship will be announcing the successful applicants who will be joining with the rest of the Witty Scholars for September 2022.  Each successful applicant gains £500 per year towards their cost of living and an individual pot of £1,500 towards a start-up fund for their business idea or training.

Meanwhile at the Ingenuity Lab, Fund Fest focuses on the Lab’s flagship pitching competition, Pitch to Win, on Wednesday 22 June. The competition is a great opportunity for Lab members to practice their pitching skills and present their business plan to an expert panel, with a top prize of £1000 up for grabs.

Pitch to Win 2021 winner Tom Sproull

Last year’s winner, Tom Sproull of Cove Clothing, said: “Pitch to Win is a great opportunity to hone a strong pitch, compressing all the core elements of your business into a short three minute presentation. Not only do you gain experience of pitching publicly, but it’s a great exercise to consider the foundations of your USP.”

Entrants need to send in a 30-second video by Friday 11^th June to apply, and successful applicants are then shortlisted to pitch in-person at the Ingenuity Lab.

Before that, the Lab is hosting an interactive Pitch Workshop on Wednesday 8 June with Entrepreneur in Residence Keith Burgess. With over 20 years of experience as a consultant for IBM, Keith will give you feedback, techniques, and insights to help you improve the impact of your presentation skills. Even if you don’t have a pitch to present, come and support your colleagues, give them feedback, and learn inspiring presentation techniques in the process.

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